


One Summer's Day

by heoneymin



Series: (All In) The Golden Afternoon [1]
Category: K-pop, Monsta X (Band)
Genre: Alternate Universe - Fantasy, Fluff and Angst, Happy Ending, Implied/Referenced Character Death, M/M, Mythical Beings & Creatures, Plants, Pre-Relationship, Slow Burn, Sort Of, Supernatural Elements, Urban Fantasy, it's an AU based on JooHyuk being compared to the earth and trees so, of minor side characters, so many plants, you can read this entire thing as platonic tbh
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2019-01-09
Updated: 2019-01-09
Packaged: 2019-10-06 19:23:45
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: Creator Chose Not To Use Archive Warnings
Chapters: 1
Words: 6,240
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/17351141
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/heoneymin/pseuds/heoneymin
Summary: —　No forest is truly ever-green, and all journeys must endIn which Min is a fairytale that learns a lot about the world, but even more about himself.





	One Summer's Day

**Author's Note:**

> "Did you seriously just make an entire AU based on that cliché af compatibility reading joohyuk got on Future Diary?"  
> YES AND WHAT ABOUT IT???
> 
> Please just bear with the first few paragraphs of fancy words, it'll get more normal once plot starts. There's a reason for the title so for maximum effect, feel free to listen to One Summer's Day from the Spirited Away OST on loop while reading.
> 
> (If any of you so much as insinuates anything non-age-appropriate goes on between the lines here while Jooheon is underage I will personally materialize in your house to punch you in the face)

 

 

✿

 

_Amidst the silver glow of dancing starlight, the creature asked the boy, "Do you believe in fairytales?"_

_"Of course," the child replied. "Why wouldn't I? You're as real as me."_

 

✿

 

Fate has always had a wicked way of turning, threading lives and souls together in knots and severing them just as swift. Granting and taking, turn by turn to keep the balance. Even creatures that defied all sense and reason, abhorred by the laws of nature, became bound by the universe's unseen web.

A hundred years it took for fate to find those that were not borne from it, a hundred years for a creature formed by man from earth and stone to gain the spark of life. True life, not the facsimile it had lived before, servitude without self-awareness—No, no longer that.

For a hundred years the creature had never held a name, but the other spirits of the valley soon grew tired of calling out to one of their own without it. Especially one as humanoid as he, they clamored, should have a name to call his own.

Uncertain of how to find a proper name, the creature sat sunken in thought for days on end. Until one night, the ghost-lights from the moor approached with a whisper.

"Would you not share a name with me?" they offered graciously. "We have oh so many to choose from and no body to share them with."

The lights' glow blurred in and out of existence when the creature's eyes would linger a fraction too long. He considered the offer.

"Which name would you have me take?"

Tiny, wriggling flecks of candle-flame slid across his sight. Contemplating. "Min would suit you quite well, we think."

The creature nodded gratefully.

"Then Min I will be."

 

✿

 

_"Don't you get lonely out there on your own?" The child asked._

_"I'm not on my own," sounded the reply. "There's others in the valley."_

_Eyes squinted together in aggravation, the boy insisted, "Yes, but you hardly ever talk to them."_

_"They're not the talkative sort."_

_Silence reigned in the small room, as if to accentuate the creature's point._

_The human huffed. "You're lucky I am then." He swiped another piece of candy off the table._

_It was oddly endearing._

 

✿

 

The valley had been the creature's— _Min_ , he reminded himself—Min's home for a century, but it wasn't until after he gained a broader sense of consciousness, _life_ , that he realized just how dull it could be.

Sure, the valley was populated by spirits and other entities here and there, but none were quite like Min. He could entertain himself by seeking them out for a while, but their appearances were ever-changing and made for rather poor company.

After years spent growing tired of the near-barren valley, he had enough.

Min decided to travel.

 

✿

 

_"What does it look like?" Big brown eyes blinked up at him._

_"Hm?" Min prompted in confusion._

_"The valley," The boy explained. "Your home. What does it look like?"_

_There were many replies to that. Monotone. Calm. Unchanging._

_"Pretty boring," Min settled for._

_The reply didn't satisfy the boy. He pouted. "But it's your home."_

_"You don't find your home boring?"_

_"No! Why would I?" he shouted, as if outraged by the idea alone. "There's hills and fields filled with tall grass to play in, and farmland with animals and a forest of trees that are suuuper high!"_

_"There's none of that where I'm from," Min replied. "So, boring."_

_"That's sad though."_

_"It's just how it is."_

_The child stopped pretending to be occupied with the paper in front of him and turned to fully face Min. "Didn't you ever try to change it?"_

_"In what way?"_

_"Like planting flowers or trees, or getting a pet?"_

_Min fell silent at that. He had entertained similar thoughts in the past. But what difference would it make if there was one more plant among the mossy grass, or one more bird picking from the fields? The land was far too vast for one little thing to make a difference._

_"I wouldn't know where to start," he mused._

_The boy grinned and ran off in a rush. "Wait here!" tumbled from his lips a mere instant before he was gone. He returned a good ten minutes later, carrying a small packet in his hands. They appeared to be flower seeds._

_"I bought these at the market yesterday, to take home for mom, but I'm sure she won't mind sharing some!"_

_Min sighed._

_"Jooheon..."_

_"Really, it's fine! Just promise to take good care of them alright? It'd be a waste otherwise, and then I'm gonna be sad."_

_"Ah, and we wouldn't want that, would we?" Min chuckled._

_Jooheon's answering grin was laced with triumph._

 

✿

 

Min travelled.

At first, it was without aim or reason, merely wandering from one place to the next. It was the first time he was glad he resembled humans so much, as he more-or-less blended into a crowd.

It was the first time he saw a crowd. Or maybe it wasn't, but his memories of his first hundred years remained fuzzy, so it might as well have been.

It was the first time he met new people, and got to talk to them, and found he could both enjoy and loathe those conversations.

The first time he saw a landscape other than his valley, from cities without sleep to darkened caverns. All provided endless wonder. And yet.

It never felt quite right.

Something deep within him pulled, resisted with every step he distanced himself from his point of origin. Maybe it was longing for familiarity, maybe it was something engraved into his bones by his creation. Whatever it was, Min wandered back.

Then left again when he grew restless.

Again and again.

He grew increasingly frustrated by his own inexplicable need to return home, but with each journey it became a little less of a chore. So what if he could never travel beyond the furthest horizon? The world was ever-changing, and he could journey far enough to never grow tired of the sights.

So Min formed a pattern. Each year he wandered, leaving the valley behind at the onset of winter and returning short of fall. Plenty of time to taste his fill of adventure before returning to solitude.

His path differed from year to year, but for one town. It was a hub for travelers, merchants and tourists alike, always busy despite its size. Picturesque, Min had heard one of them call it, and the word fit well enough. It was also the town closest to his own valley.

A dozen years passed that way. Min grew used to the routine he had crafted for himself.

Then one day, in a year like any other, a young boy approached him on the streets.

 

✿

 

_"So, how are the flowers doing?" was the first thing Jooheon asked when he found Min the following year. For some reason, he had climbed the side of the building instead of using the door. Min quickly ushered him inside._

_"Quite well, I assume. I didn't get the chance yet to see them bloom."_

_Jooheon looked pleased. "Good thing I brought you something else this time then. Come on, I'll show you!"_

_Min followed the boy's path to the door with thinly veiled confusion. "You put it outside?"_

_"Well, yeah," Jooheon said as if it should have been obvious. Min understood why when he saw the potted plant waiting against a wall at the back of the inn._

_"Tadaa! It's a tree."_

_"A very small tree." But Jooheon wouldn't have been able to climb up the building with it in tow, that much was certain._

_The boy kicked his shin. "Obviously, it's still young! But it's the same kind that's in the forest near my house, so I know it'll get really big in a few years."_

_"If you say so." Min glanced down at him._

_"I know so!"_

_Jooheon glared at the sapling with a fiery conviction, as if commanding it to grow this very second. He refused to look at Min, arms crossed and feet planted firmly against the dew-sprinkled grass. It was obvious he had thought a long time about his gift, and cared about Min's reaction. The thought of letting him down twisted something unpleasant in Min's gut._

_"Alright," Min promised. "Then I'll take care of it until it does."_

_That made Jooheon smile at him again. "And I'll bring another one next year, so it doesn't look so lonely."_

 

✿

 

Jooheon was the boy's name. He had come from a city across the border to visit his grandfather over summer. That was what he told Min at their first meeting. Jooheon was fascinated by the strange town and the people in it, but none so more than Min, he said, because the already-strange people called Min strange in turn. That must mean Min was truly odd.

Min wasn't sure what he meant, but carried on listening anyway. The boy was polite and curious in a way only children could be. Min thought nothing special of their meeting at the time.

But the boy sought him out again.

And again.

Each day until Min left town.

And again the year afterwards.

 

✿

 

_"This one girl from my class said she liked me."_

_Jooheon's troubled expression contradicted the seemingly simple statement._

_"And?" Min asked. He wasn't sure what the issue was. Why would someone_ not _like Jooheon after all?_

_The boy grimaced. "And nothing. It was weird, how she just said it."_

_"She must have had her reasons."_

_"Mom said she probably wanted to know if I like her back."_

_"And do you?"_

_Jooheon's fingers picked at the loose ends of the carpet he was laying on. "She's alright I guess."_

_"Then what's the problem?"_

_"I don't like her as much as she likes me."_

_From the grave way he said it, this was somehow a concern._

_"Does it matter how much you like someone?"_

_"It does. I think." Jooheon replied hesitantly. "There's the type of like in the way you like food and games, stuff like that. Then there's the way you like your family. Another one for friends. And then the way mom and dad like each other."_

_"Those are all different?" Min frowned._

_"Yeah I don't really get it all either, mom says I'm not old enough yet."_

_"I'm a hundred and fifteen and I don't get it, I don't think your age is the issue here."_

_Jooheon seemed to perk up a bit. "Thanks. Maybe it's because you're not human though? Is your 'like' the same as our 'like'?"_

_Min hummed. "I think so. I like travelling and rainy days, and those pastries they sell down the street." He glanced to the corner of the room, where a new potted sapling stood as promised. "I like the tree you gave me last time."_

_"None of those things are people though."_

_"Well, you're the only human I talk with repeatedly, on purpose at least. So I don't know if I like other people"—because they could be very rude or mean or otherwise unpleasant—"But I like you, if that counts."_

_Jooheon beamed up at him. "It probably counts."_

 

✿

 

After the unexpectedness of their first few meetings, Jooheon's presence became integrated into Min's yearly routine with startling ease.

The boy decided he liked visiting his grandfather at the end of summer, and as such was always there when Min passed through on his way home. Min grew to like their outings, if for nothing else than because the boy was genuinely kind and interesting. There was never a shortage of topics to talk about.

Even so, a few years into his acquaintance with Jooheon, Min figured it would be a good idea to learn more about humans as a whole. Sure, he talked to them to pass the time, but that didn't mean he actually understood their habits and traditions. 

So he started to read.

He read books about history and geography and what humans called technological advance and science. And those books that were referred to as fiction, strange tales about creatures never seen before, adventures, mysteries the likes of which mortals would never solve. He discovered romance novels and realized that oh, this must have been what Jooheon's mother was talking about. It sounded more straight-forward than he had expected, yet also more complicated. But Min liked them.

He wondered which books Jooheon liked. He made a mental note to ask him next summer.

 

✿

 

_"What's your favorite season?" Jooheon asked during his fourth year of visiting the town._

_"Why would I have a favorite season?" Min asked in return._

_"I mean, you travel a lot, right? So there have to be moments you like to travel more than others."_

_"I don't think I have a favorite."_

_Jooheon huffed and crossed his arms, sinking down into his chair. "Well, mine is fall."_

_Min chuckled at the boy's insistence on the topic, but obliged him nonetheless. "Why that one?"_

_"I was born in fall!" Jooheon grinned. "And the leaves turn all colorful and pretty too."_

_"That's because they're dying off," Min pointed out._

_Jooheon leaned over to slap at his arm. Min moved his chair back to avoid the assault._

_"But they come back each spring!"_

_"I just thought you'd prefer summer."_

_"Why?"_

_Min shrugged._

_"You remind me of summer."_

 

✿

 

The next year was the first time Jooheon didn't greet Min as soon as he arrived.

Min stayed at the same quiet inn each year now instead of trying new ones—that way Jooheon could always find him. The boy had complained about how hard it was to find Min the second year, at length, truly upset at the thought that Min might not have come at all. Even that early on in their acquaintance, seeing Jooheon sad caused unease to well up in the hollows of Min's chest.

This year however, Min was the one growing increasingly upset.

The first day he didn't see Jooheon, he wondered if the boy had simply decided to put off his trip later than usual. It would have been understandable if he wanted to spend more time with his family. His grandfather wasn't home either, so the logical conclusion was that they were all still in Jooheon's hometown.

The second day Min wondered if maybe Jooheon just didn't want to bother coming over any longer. As he grew older, spending summer with his friends would have been a more attractive prospect than going to his grandfather's, right? Even if Min was _here_ and not _there_.

The third, thoughts of the previous day lingered. They gnawed and twisted and tumbled around in his mind until their looming shadows were all Min could focus on.

Days four and five were spent worrying instead. What if something had happened to Jooheon? But no, surely someone in town would have known then, because gossip was quick to travel.

On day six, the worry dissipated and annoyance returned. Min told himself that it didn't matter if Jooheon came to see him or not, and there was no good reason to get mad about it.

The seventh day, he went home at sunrise.

 

✿

 

_Jooheon came to meet him at the station, rushing to Min's side before he had done as much as pick up his luggage. Maybe it was because Min hadn't seen the boy in two years now, but he looked much taller than before. A bit slimmer too._

_"I got sick," were the words that spilled from his lips. He gripped onto Min's arm, as if he feared Min would be the one to disappear. "Dad said I wasn't allowed to leave the house until I got better, so I couldn't come visit. I'm sorry, I—"_

_Min felt nauseous at the memory of his own treacherous mind a year before._

_It's fine. It wasn't your fault."_

_He took hold of Jooheon's hand and guided them away from the platform, to a less crowded spot._

_"Did... Did you miss me?" Jooheon's voice came out quiet and unsure._

_Min sighed. "It was just one year Jooheon, it's practically nothing to someone like me."_

_The grip on his arm tightened. "It— It's not for me though! I felt really bad, and not just because I was sick but because I couldn't come see you and it felt like forever and— And—" Jooheon's breath stuttered, broken gasps turning into thinly veiled sobs. "Dammit, I'm too old to cry!"_

_Min bent down in a rush, fingers gently coaxing the boy's hair away from his face. "Jooheon? That wasn't what I— I didn't mean it like that."_

_He tried to meet Jooheon's eyes to no avail._

_"I just didn't want to upset you." Which he had already failed to do, spectacularly. "I felt... Sad, and then really mad for a while too. And now you explained why you weren't here I feel like an idiot for those moments I doubted you, alright? It wasn't your fault, Heonie. I'm just stupid. I missed you a lot."_

_He pulled Jooheon closer. When no resistance came, he placed his arms around him._

_Jooheon hugged back. "I'm sorry," he sniffled. "I promise it won't happen again."_

_Min's mind was screaming—at nothing at all, at himself for his stupidity, at Jooheon that he shouldn't feel guilty about something he had no control over. Outwardly, he just hummed and stroked circles into Jooheon's back, willing the bad thoughts to go away._

_"Even if it does," he replied, "I promise I won't get mad next time. I'll just wait a little longer instead, alright? As long as I have to."_

 

✿

 

From that year onwards, Jooheon's gifts increased in number.

He brought more packets of seeds, more variations of bulbs and shoots and roots, and every year at least a few saplings. Min told him that he had nothing to make up for, but Jooheon insisted that he only brought as much as he could carry. And now that he was growing up, Jooheon beamed with pride, he became able to carry more and more.

Min planted each and every one of Jooheon's gifts and took care of them to the best of his ability. The plants Jooheon gave him were always chosen with Min's travels in mind, he could tell, because there was hardly ever a plant that needed special care throughout the year, or required planting during spring. The realization made Min grin for far longer than he was willing to admit.

The plants also appeared to have quite a mind of their own, increasing in number and size and even blooming out of season. Each time Min returned, there would be more oleander or wisteria or blueberries where there were none before.

His home-ground looked more lively than it had in years.

Rabbits and deer passed through more often to scavenge for food, squirrels scurrying overhead in preparation for winter. Other spirits sometimes travelled with them too, though very few of them ever stuck around. Hyungwon was nice to talk to though, even if he only came downstream when he felt like it, and Kihyun was fun to rile up whenever he passed through the small forest in the wake of his favorite flock of songbirds. Between the two of them, Min found the fall seasons spent in the valley a lot less dreadful.

Yet nothing about the forest's growth amazed him quite as much as Jooheon's did.

In only three years' time the boy had become nearly as tall as Min himself—a fact he often gloated about by draping his arms over Min's shoulders and leaning his full weight onto him. Min grumbled about manners and seniority but soaked up the attention nonetheless. 

When summer drew to a close once more, Min started to look forward to the year ahead.

 

✿

 

_"So how are my plants this year?"_

_Min raised an eyebrow. "_ Your _plants?"_

_"I said what I said. My plants, that I so generously entrusted into your care. How're they doing?"_

_"You should come take a look at them if you're so curious." Min offered with a laugh. He had never entertained the thought of inviting Jooheon to the valley, at least not to any realistic degree. Only in passing, like wisps of smoke, a half-formed idea that would never see fruition. A daydream._

_But the expression on Jooheon's face gained a yearning edge to it. Min realized that he might have misjudged the situation._

_"I don't think I can right now. With mom getting sick, and college..."_

_Min understood. It was already nothing short of a miracle that Jooheon still agreed to their summertime meetings since his grandfather passed away. They stayed in adjoined rooms at the inn now, and while the proximity was nice, it was a sharp reminder that things were different than before._

_It was strange how Min both sought out change and feared it at the same time._

_Jooheon picked up on the somber turn Min's thoughts had taken and swung an arm around his neck. "But I'll definitely come visit as soon as I'm able to!"_

_"You don't have to—"_

_"Are you kidding me? I want to!" Jooheon laughed, light and melodic in much the same way as when he was younger. "To see how the trees and other plants are doing, and to meet those new friends of yours too."_

_Min grinned. Hyungwon's reaction to the boisterous human alone would be worth it._

_"Another time then?" he asked, trying as best as he could to keep the hopeful tone out of his voice._

_"Yeah," Jooheon agreed. "Another time, I promise."_

 

✿

 

With each year that slipped by, it seemed less likely Jooheon would keep his off-handedly made promise.

His mother's condition took a turn for the worse. Min asked if Jooheon would prefer to go home early that year, but the suggestion was shot down with such finality that Min had no choice but to accept the decision at face value. Staying didn't make Jooheon any less sullen or withdrawn however.

Min settled for bringing the human food and keeping him company in the evenings, humming songs he had picked up during his travels while his fingers drew their tunes into the palms of Jooheon's hands. Jooheon didn't speak much that year. Min didn't mind.

After saying goodbye at the end of the week, his feet remained rooted outside of Jooheon's door for much longer than normal.

When he saw him next, the sadness was still present, though it was obvious Jooheon didn't wish to dwell on it for long. Min had never gotten as many presents as he did that year.

Spices and honeysuckle and pomegranate seeds. Trees he hadn't even heard of. There were trinkets Jooheon had picked up that reminded him of Min and candies that were Jooheon's favorite when he was a kid. Delicate pendants in different shapes, because Min had told him once that he liked whales and sunflowers and the honeybees that buzzed around his window at their inn.

Jooheon also spoke more, of people he had met during classes or at his latest part-time job. Although there was no shortage of names in his stories, Min got the feeling that Jooheon wasn't that close to any of them. A few of those names had asked Jooheon on dates and he regaled Min with the details of each, albeit uncharacteristically brief.

In return, Min told him of another year's worth of places he visited and new songs learned along the way because their melodies caught his attention. He showed his drawings of landscapes he had found exceptionally pretty, and even if they didn't live up to the real thing whatsoever, seeing them made Jooheon smile in earnest. In the end, that was all that mattered.

Jooheon was the first to return home that year.

Min pretended that it didn't hurt to watch him go.

 

✿

 

_The summer after Jooheon turned twenty-two, he told Min that he had dropped out of school. He refused to elaborate on why he had done so._

_"Maybe I'll go travelling," he simply shrugged._

_"Like I do?" Min looked at him, at the exhaustion that weighed him down as if it had settled down in his bones and refused to let go. It felt wrong. Unnatural. Shadows clung to his face like storm clouds before a hurricane. Min's hand came up in an attempt to brush them away._

_"Sort of, yeah. But I don't even know where I'd want to go." His lips quirked up. "Aside from visiting you, I mean."_

_Min tucked a wayward lock of hair back behind Jooheon's ear. The worry was a familiar one._

_"I'll let you in on a secret: I don't have a clue where I'm going either."_

_Jooheon frowned, though he still leaned into Min's touch._

_"But you come back here each year."_

_"Exactly. This place is never my destination, it's just where I pass through on the way back. Whenever I set out is when I don't know where to go."_

_Jooheon let himself sink down further into the pillows of the couch. It brought him closer to Min, but at the same time made it impossible to see his face. "Isn't it kind of dumb to leave without a plan like that?"_

_"Maybe," he replied. "But it's also more fun this way. Sometimes I only pass a lot of mundane stuff. But most of the times I find extraordinary things."_

_Another frown, Min could feel it._

_"But you don't travel that far out, do you?"_

_"I go far enough. But it doesn't matter how far you go anyway," he considered. Jooheon's only response was silence._

_Min carried on, "There's towns up north where the buildings look like puffed up snow-balloons in wintertime, and cities painted in neon colors to the west. Villages where houses are lined up tight together and ones where they're spread fields apart. And I thought all of them were beautiful."_

_He raked through his memories, grasping at those that stood out most. "I once came across a forest that had pine trees as far as the eye could reach, and libraries decorated with maps of stars from wall to wall. I spent hours in both, even if they can't be considered 'alike' by any terms other than how much I enjoyed them. And there's still so much more I want to see. The ocean and the eastern cities' lantern festivals. I want to try going to one of the harvest feasts near here as well. Maybe even your home, if I get the chance. It's funny how long it took me to realize it, but... Every place can be magical in some way, if you look for it."_

_"Then why did you leave your valley in the first place?" Jooheon's voice resounded in the small room, clipped with frustration. "If you can find amazing things wherever you go, why would you bother searching out other places?"_

Ah.

_Min sighed. It was his turn to avoid the other's gaze._

_"I got lonely, I guess. Though I didn't realize that was what it was at the time."_

_Jooheon's tone changed almost instantly. "I'm sorry."_

_Min leant his head against Jooheon's."It's fine. As I said, that's why I travel." Softly, lovingly, his fingers resumed combing through Jooheon's hair. "And I get to talk to you each year that way too."_

_Jooheon tensed, ever so slightly._

_And Min didn't know how to fix it._

 

✿

 

More than anything, that last conversation was what stood out in Min's memories when Jooheon was nowhere to be seen the following year. In the back of his mind he had always known there might come a time where Jooheon wouldn't show up again.

The knowledge did nothing to prepare him for the fact.

He kept replaying last year's events to himself, trying to ascertain there was nothing else he could have done or said to make a difference.

Was the reason for Jooheon's absence even something Min had control over? It felt like talons were digging into his chest. Wasn't Min giving himself too much credit? Maybe Jooheon had just found a better reason to stay _there_ that had nothing to do with Min at all. No matter how dear a friend Min considered him, there was no way to tell for sure if Jooheon thought the same.

 _—_ _And that brought forth another memory, of a Jooheon much smaller and innocent, pouting over being liked more than he could like in return and—_

Min slowly breathed in.

And out.

He refused to even think of the other option.

He waited out the rest of the week, as he had promised.

And then one more, just to be sure.

 

✿

 

There were no silly conversations or ill-advised adventures to be had with Jooheon the next year either. Min sat by the window, idly playing with the asters on the balcony, and tried very hard not to think at all. Not about where Jooheon could be right now, or where he wasn't. Not about the valley he was returning to, nor about the sorry state he'd found some of the plants in upon his previous return. Not about bad omens. Not about hope.

It was very hard, not to think.

He stayed in town until the end of winter.

 

✿

 

For the first time in decades, Min arrived home in spring.

For the first time ever, he fully realized how colorful the scenery had gotten thanks to Jooheon.

Coming home felt like relief and torture all at once.

 

✿

 

Min didn't feel like travelling that year.

Instead, he stayed in the valley and cared for the forest Jooheon had given him. The human's plants were beautiful and lovely and an absolute pain to consciously maintain now Min actually put the effort in. They really did grow and spread much quicker than they should, a fact he would have been confronted with sooner had he been home more often. Maybe it was something in the ground, or Min's presence itself that caused it. He wasn't sure. Maybe he should have picked up some more books on magic during his trips as well.

The months of spring flowed into summer with surprising ease.

Hyungwon visited for the entire month of June because, in his words, _woodland creatures are pretty to look at, but pretty annoying when they hang around your riverbed the entire day. And there's wolves sniffing around too_. Min's forest was quiet in comparison he said, even if Kihyun's birds never shut up.

Min's days were spent exploring the valley anew, though with the added struggle of trying to bring some order to the madness. He hadn't planted the foxglove anywhere near its current spot, and he was pretty sure there hadn't been any ivy next to the oaks either. To make matters worse, one of the sequoia trees had gotten sick. No matter what Min tried, it only got worse. He sulked over it for days. Kihyun forcibly dragged him out of his somber mood more than once, yet he never called Min stupid for worrying about a single tree.

For Min, it wasn't about the tree anyways.

It never was.

 

✿

 

At the end of summer, Min left. Not to journey as he usually would, no.

He left to wait, one last time.

 

✿

 

One year, he told himself. _One more year and then I'll return to normal._

 

✿

 

Giving up was easier said than done. Hope had the tendency to cling and linger and claw its way back into Min's heart, or whatever semblance of one he had.

Hope was waking up thinking _maybe today_. Hope was stopping in the middle of the street because a peal of laughter sounded so much like _his_ that it was cruel. Hope was staying in the little town on the edge of the valley the entire year instead of heading further out. Hope was sleeping with the window open in clear invitation.

Hope was painful.

 

✿

 

His longer-than-usual stay gave Min ample time to think.

With neither Kihyun nor Hyungwon, nor his plants nor Jooheon to distract him, he spent a lot of time lost in thought. He became aware of how grateful he was for this place caught in between his isolated valley and the world beyond. The people here recognized him, Min was sure now, but never judged or asked more questions than he was willing to answer. Once upon a time Jooheon had sought Min out because the townsfolk called him strange and he realized that yes, seeing the same traveler pass through year after year, unchanged by time, would be quite alarming. But they still let him be.

The longer Min stayed, the more he saw that this place was truly a traveler's haven. Countless people passed through its busy streets, each with their own stories. Some were just a tad odder than most. Min didn't stand out.

For once, he fit in perfectly.

Jooheon had, too.

 

✿

 

Giving up felt a little like this:

Like waking up one morning, in a year like any other, already at the end of summer. The air sticky and humid even in the lazy light of dawn. The smell of coffee wafting in through the opened window, along with snippets of hushed conversation from people heading out for the day.

It was getting out of bed and packing a suitcase, piece by piece, like picking up fragments of scenes that could-have-been. Taking one step out the door, then another.

Giving up was standing at the edge of town and refusing to look back, but not moving forward either.

Min discovered he wasn't very good at giving up.

 _Maybe next year_ , he thought with a smile. _Maybe then I'll learn how to give up properly._

_A year is nothing to someone like me, after all._

He went home.

 

✿

 

Returning to the valley in fall once again was bittersweet.

Every leaf and petal appeared so much brighter than before. He understood why Jooheon loved fall, with its cooling air and earthen tones, bark blending into blood-red-yellow branches reaching for those same colors in the sky. Even if Min couldn't quite forget the true reason behind those colors, he could see the beauty in the way they moved like molten fire, blazing in the golden afternoon-light.

He walked into the forest and found it wonderful.

Realization hit in the span of one breath to the next.

Breathe in, and the trees looked taller than ever before, and Min didn't remember those particular flowers and stalks of greenery being so lush when he left.

Breathe out, and the man before him looked ethereal, inhuman and impossibly brilliant.

One breath skipped, one sharply gasped.

In the few seconds it took for Min to realize that he wasn't imagining things or wishing dreams into existence, he had crossed the distance between _here_ and _there_ and leaped towards Jooheon before the latter could even finish saying "Welcome home."

Warm skin under his fingertips, soft laughter ringing like bells, arms that held on as fast as Min's own. Eyes like honey and words spilling without end— _Oh,_ ow _. Alright, hugs are possible, still sort-of-physical then, cool. I wasn't sure until now_ —their meaning lost to the maelstrom of Min's mind.

This was _real_.

Min forced his throat to work, stumbling over vowels and syllables alike. "Explain."

Jooheon pulled both of them up into a proper sitting position from where they had fallen on the ground. Min's refusal to let go didn't seem to faze him in the slightest. If anything, he sought out the affection the same way his flowers reached for sunlight.

"Humans know some magic too, you know."

"That's not what I meant." Min shook the other lightly, arms still around his neck. The _how_ of the matter could wait for now.

"I got sick again, what else," Jooheon said with a laugh that could have been a sob. "Only I didn't get better this time."

Perhaps subconsciously, perhaps not, Jooheon started stroking circles into Min's back, as if Min was the one that needed comfort right now.

"I knew, the last couple of times I saw you," he carried on. "Hereditary, all that. Mom just held out longer compared to me. People tried to help but in the end I just... I didn't see the point."

Min was lost for words, while Jooheon seemed to have an endless supply. "I still really wanted to see you. I'm sorry it took so long. There was just so much stuff to take care of, and my brother— And— I'm sorry I made you wait so long."

He didn't question why Jooheon was so sure Min waited. They both knew the answer to that already.

"But _why_ _?"_ he asked instead.

Jooheon burrowed closer with a snort.

"Because you're the best friend I ever had. Because I'm truly happy when I'm with you. I hated the thought of you getting lonely, even if I always hoped you were still waiting for me too." The rhythm of his breath against Min's neck felt like the rustling of leaves and grass swaying in the breeze. "I promised I would come see you one day, didn't I? Guess I'm just staying longer than expected. If you don't mind."

"Please," Min managed to choke out in between tearful laughter. He let his head fall back until he saw nothing but the blurred-out bleeding colors of the trees and sky above, caught in Jooheon's embrace.

"Stay as long as you like."

 

 

 

✿✿

 

 

**Author's Note:**

> Okay so, additional **SPOILERY** notes: 
> 
> I only ever refer to Minhyuk as 'Min' in this fic bc (in this AU) he shares a name with 'the ghost-lights from the moor'. There's a lot of names for ghost lights, like will-o'-the-wisp & jack-o-lantern, but an Australian variant = Min Min lights, so that's where Min got the name from. Sorry to those who find it annoying that I never use 'Minhyuk' in full :')
> 
> As to what sort of creature Minhyuk is: I actually mixed a bunch of stuff. The basic gist of it is that he was created by a human, probably an alchemist, to be a servant. He looks fully human though. As he was created from earth/clay, I guess a homunculus would be pretty close... I then took his status as an object/tool and applied the lore of _tsukumogami_ , where an object that reaches its hundredth birthday becomes alive and self-aware. Thus, giving us the unique earth spirit(?) Min we see in this fic. 
> 
> Jooheon messed around with magic in the last few years of his life and tied his soul to the plants he was giving Min, if that wasn't clear. So he's human at first, plant/nature spirit at the end (semi-physical, can touch other spirits/creatures/magic-affiliated humans, but not normal people).
> 
> Kihyun can be either an air- or bird- spirit, take your pick. Him and Min bond about music and travelling a lot.
> 
> Hyungwon is a river/water-sprite.
> 
> Changkyun was alluded to when I mentioned the wolves near the riverbed. Coda crew's his pack in the loosest sense of the word because they're all sort of misfits without a home. ~~Three guesses as to where they're gonna hang out a lot in the future hAHA. Jooheon's gonna be his bff in no time~~
> 
> I'm still taking suggestions for Shownu and Wonho because I have no idea. Kihyun's their connection to all of this mess though, since Ki also travels around a lot in this AU.
> 
>  
> 
>  
> 
> **Anyway, drop by my twitter[ @heoneymin](https://twitter.com/heoneymin) if you ever feel like screaming with me about joohyuk's compatibility**


End file.
